Page 231 - Vinkler, Jonatan, in Jernej Weiss. ur. 2014. Musica et Artes: ob osemdesetletnici Primoža Kureta. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem.
P. 231
Mahler’s Tenth Symphony
Motivic Development
and Interaction
Niall O’Loughlin, Loughborough
Mahler’s Tenth Symphony, like the Ninth, is a work of intense fasci-
nation, mystery and controversy, but unlike its predecessor, it is un-
finished and this is part of the mystery. It has been the subject of at
least two books1 and of numerous articles.2 The work was sketched in the year
1910, with various parts reaching different composing stages according to the
composer’s normal procedures. The first movement was in essence complete,
in sketch full score. The third movement was fully drafted in short score with
a substantial part in full score. The second movement was sketched in full
score, but there were a number of passages in which the continuity was only
sustained by a single melodic line. The fourth movement in short score has
similar problems, while the finale was cast as an uninterrupted short score
with some indication of instrumentation. Most of these sketches were pub-
lished in 1924.3 It is reported that Schönberg had been asked to attempt a
‘completion’ which he refused,4 and in fact Schönberg’s then son-in-law Ernst
1 Paul Op de Coul, ed., Fragment or Completion? Proceedings of the Mahler X Symposium Utrecht 1986
(The Hague: Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1991); Jörg Rothkamm, Gustav Mahlers zehnte Symphonie:
Entstehung, Analyse, Rezeption (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2003).
2 Important articles are Deryck Cooke, “The Facts Concerning Mahler’s Tenth Symphony,” in
Vindications (London: Faber, 1982), 72–94; Colin Matthews, “The Tenth Symphony,” in The Mahler
Companion, eds. Donald Mitchell and Andrew Nicholson (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1999), 491–507; Henri-Louis de La Grange, “The Tenth Symphony: Purgatory or Catharsis?,” in
Fragment or Completion? Proceedings of the Mahler X Symposium Utrecht 1986, ed. Paul Op de Coul
(The Hague: Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1991), 154–164; Henri-Louis de La Grange, “The Unfinished
Tenth Symphony in F sharp (1910),” in Gustav Mahler Vol.4: A New Life Cut Short (1907–1911)
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 1453–1529.
3 Berlin and Vienna: Paul Zsolnay, 1924.
4 Arnold Schönberg, Style and Idea, ed. Leonard Stein (London: Faber, 1975), 470–472, dismisses the
idea of the completion of the Tenth Symphony, but it is obvious that he has not inspected the sketch.
mahler’s tenth symphony: motivic development ...
229
Motivic Development
and Interaction
Niall O’Loughlin, Loughborough
Mahler’s Tenth Symphony, like the Ninth, is a work of intense fasci-
nation, mystery and controversy, but unlike its predecessor, it is un-
finished and this is part of the mystery. It has been the subject of at
least two books1 and of numerous articles.2 The work was sketched in the year
1910, with various parts reaching different composing stages according to the
composer’s normal procedures. The first movement was in essence complete,
in sketch full score. The third movement was fully drafted in short score with
a substantial part in full score. The second movement was sketched in full
score, but there were a number of passages in which the continuity was only
sustained by a single melodic line. The fourth movement in short score has
similar problems, while the finale was cast as an uninterrupted short score
with some indication of instrumentation. Most of these sketches were pub-
lished in 1924.3 It is reported that Schönberg had been asked to attempt a
‘completion’ which he refused,4 and in fact Schönberg’s then son-in-law Ernst
1 Paul Op de Coul, ed., Fragment or Completion? Proceedings of the Mahler X Symposium Utrecht 1986
(The Hague: Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1991); Jörg Rothkamm, Gustav Mahlers zehnte Symphonie:
Entstehung, Analyse, Rezeption (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2003).
2 Important articles are Deryck Cooke, “The Facts Concerning Mahler’s Tenth Symphony,” in
Vindications (London: Faber, 1982), 72–94; Colin Matthews, “The Tenth Symphony,” in The Mahler
Companion, eds. Donald Mitchell and Andrew Nicholson (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1999), 491–507; Henri-Louis de La Grange, “The Tenth Symphony: Purgatory or Catharsis?,” in
Fragment or Completion? Proceedings of the Mahler X Symposium Utrecht 1986, ed. Paul Op de Coul
(The Hague: Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1991), 154–164; Henri-Louis de La Grange, “The Unfinished
Tenth Symphony in F sharp (1910),” in Gustav Mahler Vol.4: A New Life Cut Short (1907–1911)
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 1453–1529.
3 Berlin and Vienna: Paul Zsolnay, 1924.
4 Arnold Schönberg, Style and Idea, ed. Leonard Stein (London: Faber, 1975), 470–472, dismisses the
idea of the completion of the Tenth Symphony, but it is obvious that he has not inspected the sketch.
mahler’s tenth symphony: motivic development ...
229
